Saudi King and Crown Prince express condolences over deadly mid-air collision in Washington

We stand in solidarity with the people of the United States".

Prime Minister Modi offered heartfelt condolences and said

Sadly, there are no survivors. This was a dark and excruciating night in our nation's capital and in our nation's history and a tragedy of terrible proportions as we grieve for every precious soul that has been taken from us so suddenly. This is really shaking a lot of people, including people from other nations."

Addressing a press briefing on the aviation disaster, Trump said

I will be meeting with some people that were very badly hurt with their family member, obviously, but I'll be meeting with some of the families, yeah,

Trump said

A number of us have been sounding the alarm about congestion for some time,

he said of DCA’s flight schedule, noting the

You don’t want to be the rookie on your first flight landing there,

said Campbell, who is also a retired Air Force lieutenant colonel

The airspace is both complicated and crowded as an increasingly high volume of passenger planes share the air, and communications frequencies, with military aircraft, VIP flights, White House transportation and drones flying clandestine operations,

he wrote

They don’t have time to be looking out the side window for a black helicopter,

he said

The runway threshold is at the river's edge. The Kansas flight was ready to touch down,

he told WUSA-TV in DC

That was as routine a (commercial) flight as it gets,

said Richard Aboulafia, managing director of AeroDynamic

Although extremely good because it makes it almost look like daylight, they have a sort of 'tunnel effect'

he said

I can’t get over how stunningly clear it is that this was a preventable crash and this should never, ever have occurred,

Clifford said

Even if everybody is doing what they’re supposed to be doing, you’ve only got a few hundred feet separation between aircraft coming in to land and the many helicopters along that route,

said Jim Brauchle, a former U.S. Air Force navigator and aviation attorney

I could not see him. I lost him in the city lights,

Feller, who retired from the Army in 2014, recounted Thursday

This was a disaster waiting to happen,

said Ross Aimer, a retired United Airlines captain and chief executive officer of Aero Consulting Experts

You’ve got two large airports. You’ve got multiple restricted areas. You’ve got altitude restrictions. Routine restrictions, and a lot of air traffic,

he said

Mark Warnersenator

We have raised this issue continuously; we've got very busy airspace."

In a press conference, Senator Mark Warner said on Thursday

I put safety first. Obama, Biden and the Democrats put policy first."

He said

All she wanted to do was help people, and DC, she thought, was the place to achieve her goals,

Hashim Raza said

I would just say that everyone who flies in American skies expects that we fly safely,

he said

If you hire somebody today and get them to air traffic control school and take them through all the training, it will take two years before that individual is fully qualified,

Shahidi said